Slipknot: Corey Taylor (vocals); Jim Root, Mick Thomson (guitar); Paul Gray (bass guitar); Joey Jordison (drums); Shawn Crahan (percussion); Chris Fehn, Craig Jones, Sid Wilson.

The four-year gap between Slipknot's last album and ALL HOPE IS GONE found the members of Slipknot diversifying with successful side projects like Stone Sour, but the time spent was hardly wasted. The fresh experience and exposure to other music has helped the masked metalheads deepen their sound. Touches of thrash, rap, industrial, and surprising melody have helped in Slipknot's evolution. "Gematria (The Killing Name)" and "Butcher's Hook" employ the brutal double bass drumming and cascading tempos of metalcore, along with a harsh vocal style. Elsewhere, the melodic vocals more characteristic of "nu-metal" and of singer Corey Taylor's work in Stone Sour crop up, almost tipping into power-ballad territory on "Snuff." Both "Pychosocial" and "Dead Memories" recall the hard, knotty funk of Korn, and the title track itself is a desperate, riff-heavy anthem. Overall, the dark, sophisticated palate that has kept Slipknot above the alternative metal pack is still in place.

Spin (p.118) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[The songs] find Slipknot's usual self-loathing and internal hostility becoming even heavier and more powerful when it's turned outward."

Kerrang (Magazine) (p.50) - "[A]n uncompromising and ever-evolving creation, combining the power and uncertainty that most have come to thrive on....[ALL HOPE IS GONE] sees Slipknot finding new, unexpected ways of making their noise heard."

Q (Magazine) (p.110) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]heir most mature and accessible yet, with the syncopated thump of 'Psychosocial' recalling Faith No More and 'Dead Memories' evoking BLACK ALBUM-Metallica."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.118) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he bludgeoning guitars are crisp, the overload percussion suitably crunchy and a sense of bravura and commitment that's lacking in many of today's metal bands runs throughout."

Blender (Magazine) (p.82) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[With] dark balladry and textured melodies....Slipknot make ugliness sound just a little bit pretty."